making it among the highest in the world and acts as the biggest hurdle for the industry's long-term profitability," Mills warned.

During the quarter, the airline recorded 7 per cent growth in number of passengers, while the growth of available seat kilometres rose 18 per cent and the number of departures grew a full 25 per cent.

Its regional operations recorded an 82 per cent growth in the number of passengers, while the departures posted a higher 89 per cent growth.

On revenue from the last week's ultra-low fare scheme, Mills said, they sold 7,05,000 tickets in three days but refused to share the revenue. But, it has been learned that the airline netted a huge Rs 165 crore.

Describing the promo as a tactical one, Mills said he is looking at garnering 20 per cent ticket sales through such promotions.

When sought his fuel outlook, he said it still is a big challenge and in a country like ours every airline has to live with this.

On the much-delayed ATF import, for which SpiceJet was the first to secure a licence last April, Mills said he has been waiting for the past six months or so to clear one last bureaucratic hurdle.

"As and when this one bureaucratic issue is resolved, I can start shipping in ATF from the very next day, as I have all the commercial arrangements, like vendors, shippers, storage facilities, etc already in place," Mills said.

However, Mills did not name any of the partners and the government department where the issue has got stalled.